Black dog

Round 15: Days 71-75

last update/next update

Narrated by Henry Romilly

Araminta and I have just bought a house and I figured what better way to mark our step into the adult world of home ownership than to get engaged?

We've been talking about getting married for a while, so I doubt it was a surprise to her but she played along and pretended it was anyway.

She was due at work mere minutes later though, so no time to truly celebrate it. You see, we've kind of gone into debt to buy this place. Like $20,000 in debt. We have basic furnishings - no sofa, no TV, no telescope (not an essential for most people but Araminta is an amateur astronomer).

So without TV, we make our own fun.

And with no telescope, Araminta stargazes the low-tech way.

We don't have any exercise equipment either, so it's either skipping or the gym for me. I tend to prefer the gym. I'll be here a lot, I think. I'm a cadet, so I need to be fit.

I tried to earn a little money by reciting some of my poetry at Center Drip but no one seemed to be in the mood to hear any of my teen angst poems. Plus, there didn't even seem to be any system for collecting any tips anyone might want to give anyway. There goes that idea.

I haven't mentioned anything to Araminta yet but I've been checking the paper every day to see if there are any new jobs she might be suited to. The Greasy Spoon was okay when she was living at home and it might have even been okay if we were renting but waitressing just doesn't pay enough to keep our heads above water and there's pretty much no opportunity for promotion. I can't see Julian turning his business over to a manager.

Neither of us have a degree, so we sort of feel stuck in our situation. These money problems are stressing us out and we're losing sleep. We need copious amounts of coffee in the morning to get going.

I think it's making us a little crabby too. Case in point: Araminta picking at food in the fridge, while a fresh plate of spaghetti sits on the counter going cold. Argh. We need to get out this debt and soon. We still want to get married and we both want it to last! I was recently promoted to patrol officer, so ever so slowly, maybe things will improve.

Notes:

• Henry rolled the ROS "Self doubt - change aspiration for d6 days". I rolled Fortune, for 3 days but ended up totally forgetting to change him back. This guy is apparently totally destined to be a Family Sim because apart from being a little more motivated to skill for promotions and his attraction to Araminta dropping a tad, you would never know he was a Fortune Sim!
• It's so lame how Sims can't get tips from the microphone!
• The espresso machine is their one luxury. For Sims (and some people!), I think it would almost count as a necessity anyway.
• These two are in greater financial problems than Leo and Kit. Leo and Kit were smart enough to rent! Henry and Araminta are my first Sims to have to borrow money to pay their taxes. I'm planning on plunging them further into debt next time, so they can have a wedding.